World championships
The World Ludo Championships are played every four years to determine the world champions of ludo. The championships currently consist of six events. In addition to the team event (the "Riber Cup") and the pairs event, four individual titles are contested: the open event (usually referred to simply as the "world championship"), open to players of all genders and ages, as well as separate events for women, juniors (Under 22), and veterans (50+). The first world championships were held in 1919 with 16 players from 4 countries, competing in two events (individual and team). The latest championships were held in 2011; the next will take place in December 2015. Format Originally, countries were divided into two tiers. The so-called test nations or "full members" of the ILU automatically qualified for the team event, while all other countries had to go through a qualification tournament (before World War II) or qualify via the continental championships. Today all countries have to qualify. Similarly, each test nation originally had a certain number of fixed places in the individual event. Furthermore, until 2003 the reigning individual world champion qualified directly for the final and only had to defend their title in that one match against three challengers. Since 2007, the reigning champion "only" qualifies directly for the tournament, but has to play through all four rounds to retain the title. Team matches are played in the standard format with four-man teams and 8-game matches. Each team is allowed a maximum of two alternates - for a total of six players - which can be used at will. The individual open event is played over four rounds with matches of 8, 8, 12, and 16 games, respectively - the world championship final is the only match in tournament ludo to be played over 16 games. In the women's, junior, and veteran events the finals are played over 12 games. History The idea of a tournament to determine the strongest player in the world dates back to the earliest years of ludo. The two inventors of the modern game, K. H. Olsson and James Preston, were also the brains behind this concept, and in the years leading up to World War I they discussed it with their counterparts overseas. Plans were in the works to stage a tournament in 1914 or 15, but the war put an end end to that. It wasn't until 1919, when international ludo activities resumed, that the plans were fully realized and the first world ludo championships became a reality, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December of that year. Pre-World War II (1919-35) Four countries were arranging their own ludo events - both open tournaments and national championships - at the time: Denmark, Great Britain, the United States, and Australia. Representatives of these four met in Copenhagen in December 1919 to with two purposes. One was to create an international ludo federation - thus the ILLU was born. The governing body of ludo worldwide still holds its congress every fours years in conjunction with the world championships. The other purpose of the meeting in Copenhagen was the staging of a tournament to determine the best ludo player and the best team in the world. 16 players took part in the individual tournament, which was won by the host nation's Einar Jensen, who also captained the Danish team to victory in the team tournament. The trophy awarded to the winners was a sight to behold: made in pure gold and already valued at £ 10,000 at the time, it is considered priceless today. The name of the trophy was decided by James Preston, one of the two creators of the tournament. According to his own version of the story, he was struggling to come up with an appropriate name when his wife's cat jumped unto his desk, causing papers and documents to fly all over the place.The name of the cat was Riber (pronounced REE-ber) - and so the Riber Cup became the name of the most prestigious trophy in ludo. ... The Tremendous Ten (1947-51) ... The Cold War Era (1955-91) ... The modern era (1995-2003) ... The 21st century (2007 onwards) ... Results (Numbers in parentheses indicate the total number of wins by that player or nation) ... Category:International championships Category:World championships